A Long Strange Trip

You have heard of Cats because it has been around for a long time. First, it was a land-based slot machine. Then it was offered as an online casino game. Now, it has crossed over as a mobile slot app or in-browser game.

Cats — and IGT’s entire repertoire of real-cash slot games — has made a movement from large bulky machines inside smokey terrestrial casino venues to swift mobile applications in the palm of one’s hand, wherever one wishes to play.

Trends in Online Casino

The other current trend marked by Cats has to do with the near future. There is so much activity and competition in the online-casino-game world, especially centered upon Facebook’s one billion users, that even the mighty Zynga has now lost its exclusive placement on the network and is exposed to stiff competition. The name of the game is ‘social gambling’, on top of mobile casino.

IGT is throwing its weight at this social-mobile phenomenon, and the firm makes no bones about the fact that 2013 will be its year to plant a deep stake in this market.

That just means that things will heat up with the other big studios like Microgaming and Playtech, as well, who find they are competing to retain an exclusive relationship with licensees. Virgin is offering both Microgaming and IGT games now and plans to add other game vendors.

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Clever as a Cat

All that said, Cats itself is a very usable slot machine, especially for cat-lovers (which is obviously an awful lot of people). The mobile app’s buttons for Spin and Line Bet controls are huge and simple, which makes it exceptionally easy to use during commuting when fingers have a lot to do otherwise.

Cats has 5 reels and 30 pay lines. Every part of the smaller screen real estate is occupied by the reels and the large information panes to the right. What you see are beautiful lions and cubs, tigers and black panthers. Wild symbols, as usual, are either the name-plate logo or a paw print.

Where to Find It

In preparation for the expansion of this marketplace for slots, IGT has a system that its customer-sites can plug directly into their existing game setup. That means it can bite into a competitor’s contracts with their existing clients.

For that reason you will find Cats alongside Microgaming slot hits like The Dark Knight. You very well may see Cats pawing its way into the lineups of mobile casinos where you already play. Once you start loving its bold letter symbols against black (very easy to see), large buttons, split-symbol reel action that can double your chances to hit some cash, you will be hunting for it.

The Purr of Simplicity

In some ways Cats for mobile is not a slot-like screen, but more streamlined, not wasting any space for fancy image backgrounds. Although you may not be as impressed with Cats as with blockbuster slots from other makers (aimed at being image-display vehicles as well), its simplicity will be the cat’s meow for you in no time.